China taunts Ambassador Gary Locke, calls him 'banana'

SCOTT SUND, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By SCOTT SUNDE, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Updated 9:49 am, Friday, February 28, 2014

In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, file photo, Gary Locke, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to China, leaves after a farewell news conference held at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. A major Chinese government news service used a racist slur to describe Locke in a mean-spirited editorial on Friday that drew widespread public condemnation in China.
Photo: Ng Han Guan, AP

In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, file photo, Gary Locke, the...

In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, file photo, Gary Locke, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to China, speaks during a farewell news conference held at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. A major Chinese government news service used a racist slur to describe Locke in a mean-spirited editorial on Friday that drew widespread public condemnation in China.
Photo: Ng Han Guan, AP

In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, file photo, Gary Locke, the...

In this photo released by the US Embassy Beijing Press Office, U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke, left, makes a phone call as he accompanies blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, right, in a car en route from the U.S. Embassy to a hospital in Beijing, Wednesday, May 2, 2012. At center is language attache James Brown.
Photo: Uncredited

In this photo released by the US Embassy Beijing Press Office, U.S....

In this photo released by the US Embassy Beijing Press Office, blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, obscured, is embraced by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, as U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, right, looks on, before leaving the U.S. Embassy for a hospital in Beijing Wednesday May 2, 2012.
Photo: AP

In this photo released by the US Embassy Beijing Press Office,...

US Vice President Joe Biden (center) sits next to new US ambassador to China Gary Locke (2nd from right) during their bilaterial meeting with China inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on August 18, 2011. Biden met with the man expected to be named as successor to President Hu Jintao next year under pressure to revive the image of the United States after the world's largest economy came close to a disastrous default on its debts earlier this month and suffered a historic credit rating downgrade.
Photo: Lintao Zhang, AFP/Getty Images

US Vice President Joe Biden (center) sits next to new US ambassador...

US Vice President Joe Biden (left) talks to Chinese ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui (right) as Gary Locke, US ambassador in China looks on at a US China friendship basketball match held at the Olympics sports center in Beijing on August 17, 2011. US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in China under a cloud of criticism over the US debt, as he seeks to build a rapport with the man expected to be the rising Asian power's next leader. Biden, a veteran foreign policy hand during his 36-year Senate career, arrived for a five day visit in China.
Photo: Ng Han Guan, AFP/Getty Images

"Gary Locke is a U.S.-born, third-generation Chinese-American, and his being a banana — 'yellow skin and white heart' — became an advantage for Obama's foreign policy,'' opened the commentary, written by a person identified as Wang Ping...

"However," the commentary continued, "after a while, a banana will inevitably start to rot.''

Locke drew the scorn of the news service by going to such places as Tibet. It said he stirred "an evil wind" in such places.

Then there was this nugget:

"When Gary Locke arrived, the skies in Beijing became hazy. When he left, the skies suddenly became blue.''

The South China Morning Post reports that Locke, who made quite a stir by flying coach, waiting in line for a cup of Starbucks and carrying his own bags, has been remembered fondly by many online in China. And some not so fondly

It notes:

The US embassy's release of air pollution data had further bolstered his image. "Gary Locke's biggest contribution was to tell the Chinese people what PM2.5 is, and also to tell Chinese ambassadors that they can fly economy class," television actor Sun Haiying wrote in a weibo post.

The US embassy has released measurements of smog-induced fine particles known as PM2.5 for years. Last year, Locke ordered thousands of air purifiers for his staff in China.

In a joke circulating on Sina Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, a journalist asks Locke: "China is your ancestral home, will you take home some of your ancestral home's soil?" Locke replies, "I am. I've filled my lungs with it."